Of course, Gay Street is 35 miles from Rockwood, Tazewell, Morristown, Madisonville and other such places. As compared to the Jacobs Film Center which is 35 miles from New York City, the millions who live there and is serviced by NYC subway/trains. This is an important difference in figuring out what works for a given location. That being said, there is certainly much to like about the Jacobs Film Center.

Here's another interesting cinema company:

(link...)

Wow. What if Knoxville had a vintage movie house or two that could be reborn as important cultural venues?

Nah. Couldn't happen here.
~m.

Does the Jacobs Film Center have two other historic theaters in within 3 blocks? Unless Knoxville was willing to build a movie theater around an existing historic structure, we would need to start from scratch. Yes, the one we have could look different. I would also be interested to know how the construction and operation of the Jacobs was financed.

The Nickelodeon Theatre is a small 77 seat store front theater located in Columbia SC on the corner of Main and Pendleton Streets, adjacent to the campus of the University of South Carolina. In operation since 1979, "the Nick", run by the Columbia Film Society, is home to two film screenings each evening and an additional matinée three days a week. The Nick is the only non-profit art house film theater in South Carolina and is the home for 25,000 filmgoers each year.

I used to go to this all the time when I lived there and I really want Knoxville to have something like it. When the Riviera came together I quit scheming, but looking at the crap playing there vs. what's on at the Nickelodeon, I'd say it's time to stir things up.

I think it's also important to note that Westchester County has the 8th highest per-capita income in the country, so they're a bit of an apple to our orange.

Haven't had a chance to get down to the new theater. Of course, we don't much see movies. The last 2-3 have been at Downtown West and were, I guess, political. How's business at the new downtown theater?

The downtown Riviera looks a bit cheap, with the stucco instead of brick, but it's hardly gaudy by Regal's standards. Is there some reason Gay street has to be locked in time back in 1950?

Consider this out at Turkey Creek. It could have been worse!

More views of what a true monstrosity looks like.

The Pinnacle may be a monstrosity, but if you take it as camp, it's pretty amazing.

------
~Russ

Westchester County has the 8th highest per-capita income in the country, so they're a bit of an apple to our orange.

But we have our extremely low taxes, low cost of living, and "quality of life." Or do we?

The first thing we should do is to stop making excuses.

Who's making excuses?

I'm just saying that holding up an apple and suggesting that the components that came together to make it a good apple are not necessarily a direct relation to what makes a good orange. Apple trees and orange trees grow in very different environments.

"Apple trees and orange trees grow in very different environments."

on that subject - or to change the subject - the food coop is now importing organic apples from new zealand. so now in knoxville we have apples from new zealand and red-light cameras from australia. what next?

maybe we should be comparing apples to pencil sharpeners ..

I think the one big excuse obstacle keeping Knoxville from being like real cities is described here.

maybe we should be comparing apples to pencil sharpeners ..

Excellent idea:

(link...)

Geez, if you don't want to live in Southern college town and be ruled by football in the Fall, move! Up North would be a good choice, where football is one thing as opposed to 'the' thing. Well, you should avoid Columbus, Ohio, Ann Arbor, Michigan and similar college towns.

Knoxville is no different than dozens of the other cities in the South and elsewhere. Football is a tradition, not to mention it brings in millions to the city and surrounding area. Nothing else you could have on a Saturday would come close. And, with 107,000 packing Neyland Stadium and paying thousands in donations to UT for the right to buy tickets, it ain't likely to change in my lifetime or yours.

Unlike some, I appreciate that I live in a place like Knoxville which allows me to spend my Saturday afternoons in Neyland Stadium. In the words of Lewis Grizzard, if you don't like it here, 'Delta is ready when you are'. Grizzard was also a noted Georgia Bulldogs fan.

...not to mention it brings in millions to the city and surrounding area. Nothing else you could have on a Saturday would come close.

That's highly debatable, if you read the editorial. What they buy of A, they and the other several hundred thousand who are imprisoned on game days don't buy of B, C, D... And does it all have to be amount money and profits? I thought it was about quality of life, choices/diversity, options for everyone, etc. Why must you ruin it for everyone else or run them out of town? I won't let CBT, Grizzard, or the Vols Army/Navy run me out of my home town. All towns have their problems, true. One of this one's is an obsession with 14 minutes of action 11 or so times a year, seven of which are here.

Knoxville is no different than dozens of the other cities in the South and elsewhere.

No different? I don't think most Vol fans and visiting fans of other teams would agree. Those two cities you mention are exceptions. Charlottesville, Va is one similar size town that doesn't let its college football program run (and ruin) the whole town.

I've spent time as a rabid Vol fan. I have lived and loved the experience. But I've gotten over it to some degree (with a lot of help from a lot of scandals) and put it in perspect to another. I can still enjoy a game, but it's just a friggin' game and I've come to realize there are a lot more fun things in life.

And, with 107,000 packing Neyland Stadium and paying thousands in donations to UT for the right to buy tickets, it ain't likely to change in my lifetime or yours.

Very true, but a pathetic excuse.

Scott Stadium at UVA holds about 60,000, after a recent $86 expansion. They don't sell out. Check out the UVA website, you can buy tickets. And, while I have respect for Virginia's football team and followers, the passion for football at UVA pales in comparison to the University of Tennessee.

No one's running you out of town. I suspect Tennessee football has been this way most, if not all, of your life. It's part of the deal if you live here. As you agree, it's not going to change. But, if you don't like it, you do have a choice, which is to live somewhere else.

Seems to me that appreciating what the University brings to this community (even apart from athletics) is better than complaining about scheduling conflicts for 10-12 Saturdays in the Fall. Diversity and choice are nice buzz words. You still have choices, just not as many for those particularly Saturdays. So what? Should I complain that the garage where I park daily gets taken over weekly for events on Market Square? No, I'm glad we have lots of great events downtown. How about closing down Gay Street in front of my office for parades and other such events? Same answer. I'm happy to have these things in my hometown.

As for football Saturdays, in addition to the 107,000 here, millions of people from all over the country get to see and appreciate the great things we have in Knoxville. As many in UT administration will tell you, athletics is the introduction many people have to a school. There's a lot of benefits and enjoyment long beyond your estimated 14 minutes of action.

But, if you don't like it, you do have a choice, which is to live somewhere else.

Yeah, love it or leave it you buncha pinkos!

Yeah, love it or leave it you buncha pinkos!

I thought that was an interesting approach. If you are not into UT football, move along.

Thanks for bolstering my point with details about UV. Charlottesville is one city that apparently is "different than dozens of the other cities in the South and elsewhere," which means it can have real diversity, a better school, culture that supports first run and art cinemas on their mall (which makes ours pale by comparison), etc.

There is a finite sum of resources to do these things and sustain them; it's zero sum, more or less. Because Knoxville has decided to put so much into football, there's not enough (money/budget/risk, etc.) left over to provide or support much else. Look at how much more arts and culture there are in tiny (and conservative) Asheville than here. The difference: No football there. It's our 900 lb. gorilla that won't leave and we can't ever ignore (not even in winter/spring when office water cooler talk and local AM radio is still dominated by football, football, and more football).

I like Knoxville, but we'll never be a real city until we decide we don't have to out do USC, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, et. al. in obsessiveness for the almighty pigskin. I know we're too narrow fiercely independent to ever change.

Seems to me that appreciating what the University brings to this community...in addition to the 107,000 here...

(...which keeps more than that number at home not spending money because of traffic, etc.)

Just what does this mediocre monstrosity offer this town other than sports? It is a horrible steward of the community. Ugly campus, no limit to number of cars, and has no sense of preservation even to the most historic structures or prized green space.

..., millions of people from all over the country get to see and appreciate the great things we have in Knoxville.

And what are those great things? Besides football. And the Smokies we encourage our developers to ruin. And Dollywood. ?? Retail chain food establishments, I suppose.

Question to ask yourself: Why can't a football fan be just as satisfied, just as happy, in a place like Charlottesville? You can get great seats and it won't even cost so much. Does it really matter that your school must spend millions toward being a powerhouse it never really can compete as? Is being an almost-powerhouse fan worth all the non-graduating, poor academic athletes that schools like UT routinely burn through and leave strewn to lives of poverty as has-beens? Do you have to whup up so much ass of little football schools to be a real man fan? It seems like it would be more fun to lose some of the time, and not just to Florida, Bama, etc. And what does this obsession say about you as a Christian? Does it seem healthy?

It's just a friggin' game. Yet it's Knoxville's heroin.

Look at how much more arts and culture there is in tiny (and conservative) Asheville than here. The difference: No football there.

And no 30,000 student university with a history and tradition in college athletics. I'm sure there are those in every town with a major university and high profile sports who whine about the attention it gets, the fact that those poor souls have to endure it, mostly on those 7 or 8 (home games) Saturdays in the Fall.

And Asheville 'conservative'? Well, the weekend I spent there a couple of months back didn't give me that impression. It's also not the impression I get from what I read about current Asheville.

"Knoxville" didn't decide to put so much resources into football. Tens of thousands of individuals make that decision each week. It's also ridiculous to think that if there was no football on those 7 or 8 Saturdays all of the sudden tens of thousands of people would spring forth on those 7 or 8 Saturdays, filling the streets, attending poetry readings, art exhibits and spending untold sums on something other than the dreaded spectator sport...football. Seems to me that setting aside those 7 or 8 Saturdays leaves about 350+ days for non-football people to do something else.

I deal with Market Square events throughout the year. I have to get my briefcase looked searched to get from my office to my car because I have to go through Square. The parking lot is jammed. I can't schedule clients if there are parades on Gay Street. I could complain, but these are really no big deal. It's part of having things for lots of different people to enjoy.

I really hate the snotty attitude of some people toward 'football'. They act as though they are so far superior for such common pursuits. Lots of people enjoy Tennessee football. It's fun. You probably enjoy things some of those people don't. It's a big world with lots of people who like different things.

If you want something else, you name Asheville. I'm sure there are other towns. Get out of town for a couple of Saturdays in the Fall. Knoxville in the Fall means football. I'm sure it's the same in Tallahassee, Athens, Gainesville and dozens of other college towns. Knoxville is a great town, including those 7 or 8 football Saturdays in the Fall. Maybe someday you'll see it as a glass more than half full as opposed to less than half empty.

Why can't a football fan be just as satisfied, just as happy, in a place like Charlottesville?

Speaking for me, I grew up in Knoxville, have been going to games since I was a kid and got my undergraduate degree from UT. So, no, I wouldn't be as happy in Charlottesville or any other place.

non-graduating, poor academic athletes that schools like UT routinely burn through and leave strewn to lives of poverty as has-beens

What about the majority of male and female athletes who have the opportubity for a college degree because of athletics, do graduate and become productive members of their communities? These good people far outnumber the ones you mention.

I won't take the bait and debate UT's status as a football powerhouse or the personal dig at my being a football fan somehow speaks ill of me as a Christian. I suspect you know very little about either subject. At least, from what I can tell from 'Factchecker'. If you want to be a 'real man', stop posting anonymously. But, you won't do that, will you?

CBT has a point: If you don't care about UT's (lame) football team you have no business on a thread about art cinema. Why are you still here? It's September, so everything is about UT football. I think that's easy to understand. You can watch movies during basketball season.

You can watch movies during basketball season.

You've done it now, blaspheme.

Speaking for me, I grew up in Knoxville, have been going to games since I was a kid and got my undergraduate degree from UT. So, no, I wouldn't be as happy in Charlottesville or any other place.

You misunderstood-estimated me. I wasn't challenging you to leave. I was merely posing the hypothetical question about why/whether it is really more fun, satisfying, etc. to be a fan at a huge football factory versus a more normal school that has a program proportional to its academic standing, that graduates more athletes, isn't predestined to win every game except to teams like Florida, Cal., OSU, etc.

I bet Vanderbilt fans have as much fun as Vol fans do. Do you have more fun now than you did before there was a Jumbotron, loud fireworks, the biggest stadium, etc.? Just something to ponder.

IMO, Tennessee football was pretty damn fun throughout the 17 years it couldn't beat Alabama, if not so during and immediately following those 17 (or 16?) games.

If you want to be a 'real man', stop posting anonymously. But, you won't do that, will you?

Not as long as it gets under your skin!

Oh yeah. How did your little pampered majors in sports history do on the field today? Maybe they didn't pray enough.

The vols are number one, baby!

Michael why does everything make you angry? Do you see nothing good in anything going on in downtown or our city?

We know you are superior to all of us and far more intelligent because you tell us all the time. So why have you not ran for mayor fixed all of Knoxville's problems and now sitting on a beach bragging what a great job you've done?

Lady Vols soccer team is 6-1 so far. UT does have a good team after all. They've also scored ten goals to three given up, and five of those wins were shutouts. Pretty damn good stats. I wish I could see them on tv.

They probably have good scholastic records too.

If you want to be a 'real man', stop posting anonymously. But, you won't do that, will you?

Not as long as it gets under your skin!

Glad to know I'm that important to you.

'Cos everybody's got to have somebody to look down on.
Who they can feel better than at anytime they please.
Someone doin' somethin' dirty, decent folks can frown on.
If you can't find nobody else, then help yourself to me.

Help yourself, brother.

Kris Kristofferson, Jesus Was a Capricorn

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut